As a veteran of various political “wars,” as elections in this country are sometimes called, I am usually skeptical of any book which claims to hold the secret to electoral success. So when I first heard that the Ateneo School of Government was planning to publish a book on electoral politics, I thought that they will come out with a well-researched but nonetheless impractical guidebook to winning elections. I was totally mistaken.

Although I find the title, “How to Win an Election: Lessons from the Experts,” a tad too direct for my taste, I found the book surprisingly informative and quite entertaining to read. Written by the people behind Newsbreak Magazine, “How to Win an Election” reads like a "do-it-yourself" manual that even politically-uninitiated persons can easily understand. I guess the choice of the title was a marketing decision by its publishers, the Ateneo School of Government and Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, meant more to catch the prospective book buyer’s attention. Using the case study format, "How to Win Elections" succeeds in demystifying the enigmatic people (more commonly known as the campaign managers, political officers and spin-masters) behind the candidates. The book is peppered with insightful “campaign trail” anecdotes and also detailed instructions on how to successfully manage a campaign which other political aspirants can use in their respective campaigns.

Like a school textbook, the authors systematically analyze the electoral campaigns of successful and not-so successful candidates. “How To Win Elections” is divided into three chapters. Chapter 1 is titled “Preparing to Win” and lists down all the basic ingredients for a successful campaign. This chapter also gives some fundamental guidelines on how to assess your chances as a candidate, surveying the political terrain, choosing the right campaign team and how to come up with an effective campaign strategy. Chapter 2 discusses the topic “How to Run Your Campaign” and tackles in detail the myriad logistical and operational requirements of every campaign. It also gives pointers on how political handlers can effectively address scheduling problems and media communications crises that are sure to crop up during the campaign period. Chapter 3 is titled “After Election Day: The Real Battle Begins” which I think is quite apt considering that elections in the Philippines are largely settled by how well a candidate can “protect his votes.” The last chapter deals more on how to prevent your candidate from being cheated in the canvassing and gives valuable pointers on how to spot (and hopefully foil) your opponent’s “special operations” strategy. Fortunately (or unfortunately), the book does not teach the candidate how to cheat.

Readers, however, should be warned: “How to Win an Election” is for political beginners. It is not meant to be advanced reading for political masters. Consequently, veteran campaign operatives might find the book overly elementary and too simplistic. In their quest for “political heroes” and probably in their desire to make the book more readable, the writers tended to over-simplify matters. For example, the book treated the upset victory of Grace Padaca over Faustino "Jun" Dy, Jr. during the 2004 gubernatorial race in Isabela as a triumph of reform-oriented politics over traditional or dynastic politics. The book glosses over the important fact that one of the reasons why Padaca won is because she was able to "neutralize" the goons of Dy with the help of the communist armed group New People’s Army (NPA). In fact, contrary to public perception, it was Jun Dy and his family who were constantly under threat of being killed and/or kidnapped by the NPA during the entire campaign period in Isabela. For this reason, he could not go out and campaign as he wished. On election day, the vaunted political machinery of the former Governor was totally "outclassed" by activist NGOs and Church-led groups in Isabela while Dy's goons were "checked" by the armed elements of the Left. Due to the threat of violence from both camps, the 2004 elections in Isabela had one of the lowest voter turn-outs in the province's history.

While Governor Padaca rightly deserves her title as the "Giant Killer," I believe people should not be made to believe that her "fairy tale" victory over a well-entrenched dynasty was made possible only thru prayers, idealism and good intentions. It is not easy to defeat a well-entrenched, not to mention well-armed, political dynasty in the Philippines (or else Philippine politics would not be dominated by political dynasties today) and one more often needs more than just good intentions to win. This misconception might even prove fatal for idealistic but naive political aspirants who may attempt to take on dynastic clans in their respective localities based on this mistaken notion.

But all in all, “How to Win an Election: Lessons from the Experts” is a must-read not only for individuals harboring political ambitions but for all Filipinos who are merely curious on how electoral politics is practiced in the Philippines. For just 300 pesos, the book will transport the reader into the politician’s inner sanctum and afford him an insider’s view of what really goes on inside the mysterious, smoke-filled rooms of the political campaign operators. The book may very well become the "Bible" of all political operatives, PR practitioners and aspiring politicians in the Philippines.

* About the Book Reviewer

Oliver M. Mendoza earned his Bachelor of Arts major in Political Science from the Ateneo de Manila University. He used to work for the late Senator Raul Roco and Senator Mar Roxas and since 1994, he has been involved in various local and national election campaigns.